Monitoring Urban Expansion Directions in 6th October City (Egypt) Using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System Analysis

Urban expansion is a universal trend primarily determined by the over population growth, particularly in developing countries like Egypt. Pattern and boundary of urban expansion could be observed and modeled on a spatial and temporal dimension. In the present study, GIS and remote sensing data along with other thematic maps were used to analyze the urban expansion and directions in the past 25 years for 6th October city which is one of the biggest new cities in Egypt. Five Landsat images, acquired in 1990, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 were calibrated, classified and compared using ENVI 5.1. and Arc GIS 10.2. software. The classified images were analyzed to locate the directions of urban expansion in 6th October City during four periods 1990-2000, 2000-2005, 2005-2010 and 2010-2015. Change detection results showed the areas and directions of urban expansion. Results indicated that the southern direction of the urban expansion was predominant during the period 1990-2000 (2.31 km2), while the northern direction was predominant during 2000-2005 (1.42 km2). However, the eastern direction of the urban increase was predominant in two sequent periods; 2005-2010 and 2010-2015 recording 1.2 km2 and 2.22 km2, respectively. This study supports the future urban planning strategies through assessing the spatiotemporal changes and directions of urban expansion.